Mowing-machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. H. L. HOPKINS.

MOWING MACHINE.

No. 360,019. Patented Ma1n29, 1887.

(No ModeLj 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. L. HOPKINS.

MOWING MACHINE.

No. 360,019. Patented Mar. 29, 1887.

V 27 if/a r27 q/s PATENT F F ICE.

HARVEY L. HOPKINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOWlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 360,019, dated March29, 1887.

Application filed April 26, 1886. Serial No. 200,207.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, I'IARVEY L. HorKms, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowing-Machines, whichare fully set forth in the following specification, reference being badto the accompanying dra wings, in which- Figure 1 represents a plan of amachine embodying my improvements; Fig. 2, a detail plan of the portionof the main frame to which the fingerbearn is coupled; Fig. 3, a detailsection taken on the line w m, Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a front elevation of thepitman and its connec tions; and Fig. 5, a detail section taken on theline y y, Fig. 1.

My present invention relates to certain iinprovements upon themowingmachine described and shown in Letters Patent No. 307, 948,granted to me November 11, 1884:.

The object of the present improvements is to maintain the registerbetween the knives and the guard-fingers in the various positions of thefinger-beam, especially when the latter is tilted, or when subjected tobackward thrust.

I will proceed to describe in detail one way in which I have carried outmy invention in practical form, and will then point out definitely inthe claims the special improvements which I believe to be new and wishto protect by Letters Patent.

The machine to which these improvements have been applied is in all itsgeneral features like that described and shown in my prior patentmentioned above, and reference is made to said patent for a generaldescription of this machine. I have here shown and described only suchparts of this machine as are necessary to understand the constructionand operation of the present improvements.

It is well known that for the efficient working of the cutting apparatusin mowing-machines it is necessary that the knives or cutters shallregister with the guard-fingers, or, in other words, that the point ofeach knife shall move from the center of one guard to the center ofthenext in the reciprocating movement of the cutter. In all mowing-machinesof ordinary. construction the point of attachment of the pitman to thecutter-bar is somewhat lower than the pitman-c-onnection to thecrank-wheel, as illustrated in Fig. i of the drawings. It is obvious,then, that if the cutter-bar is elevated above its usual operativeposition the register will be disturbed, for if the shoe andguard-fingers be raised straight upward they will be brought more nearlyinto a straight line with the crank-wheel, and consequently nearer tothe latter, while the distance between the cutter-bar and said wheelmust always remain the same, as it is regulated by the length of thepitman.

If, as in some constructions, the shoe is raised in the arc of a circleby the vertical vibration of a conplingarm, the register will also bedestroyed, for the center of vibration of the couplingarm is not usuallycoincident with the center of vibration of the pitman in the samemovement; hence the shoe and the joint between the pitman and thecutter-bar will be varied in their relation.

It is also evident that if the finger-beam is thrown out of accuratealignment with the crank-wheel by the movement backward or forward ofthe outer end of the beam a similar disturbance of the register will beproduced.

The machine to which reference has been made belongs to that classhaving a rocking or tilting finger-beam, and it is obvious that in allmachines of this class the tilting upward of the fingers will elevatethe cutter-bar and so disturb the register, as described above that is,provided the finger-beam is tilted directly upward without any lateralmovement. In this machine and all others in which the finger-beam isconnected to the mainframe by hinge-joints of any kind there is alwaysmore or less vibration of the finger-beam backward at its outer end, forit is not the custom and is not desirable to make the connectingjointstight or close-fitting; and even if the joints were ordinarily tight thewear of the machine would soon produce sufficient looseness to occasionthe backward vibration referred to. Obviously this movement will disturbthe register between the knives and guard-fingers, as explained above;

It is-the purpose of my present improvements to overcome thesedifficulties, so as to maintain the register between the knives andguard-fingers under the movement to which the finger-beam is subjectedin actual work.

In the drawings, A represents the main frame of the machine, which ismounted on the main axle, to which the supporting and driving wheels Bare applied. This frame is provided with a central portion, a, which inthis instance droops forward, and the crankshaft is mounted thereon,carrying at its outer end a crank-wheel, 0, with the ordinary crankpin,0, to which the upper end of the pitman D is connected, being attachedat its lower end to the cutter-bar E, which is provided with ordinaryknives or cutters, e. The fingerbeam F and guard-fingers f are of usualcon struction, and the inner shoe, G, is provided with an extension orcoupling arm, g, which is connected by a knuckle or swiveling-piece, H,to a coupling-piece or bracket, I, which is pivoted at its lower end toa stationary bracket, J, on the main frame, the same as in my formerpatent heretofore mentioned.

The pivoted coupling-piece or bracket l is vibrated back and forth totilt the finger-beam, as described in the said patent, and is held andguided at its upper end by a lip or guide flange, j, on the fixedbracket J, which fits over and embraces a flange, i, on thecouplingpiece, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. Now, in myformer patent the guideway for the vibrating couplingpiece is parallelto the drooping arm of the main frame,

or to the crank-shaft, and so the vibration of the coupling-piece, andconsequent tilting of the finger-beam, are on right lines also parallelto the crankshaft, thereby producing the disturbance of the registerbetween the knives and guard-fingers which has been described. In thepresent instance I construct this fixed bracket J with its outer faceinclining outward from the crank-shaft as it extends to the rear, asshown in Figs. 1 and- 2 of the drawings, in which the cap portion of theflangej is broken away to show this feature.

Now, it will be seen at once that the path of the vibratingcoupling-piece I is not parallel to the crank-chaft, but is inclinedoutwardly therefrom from front to rear, so that as the coupling-piece isvibrated backward it will be gradually thrown outward from thecrankshaft. The movement of the finger-beam and fingers, when tilted,corresponds to this movement of the coupling-piece, so that when thefingers are tilted upward the finger-beam is moved gradually andslightly outward, and upon the dropping of the fingers movescorrespondingly inward. The degree of this movement is carefullyadjusted to correspond with the ordinary change in distance between thefinger-beam and crank-shaft when raised or tilted in theordinary way, sothat the distance between the finger-beam or inner shoe and thecrank-shaft will be maintained, notwithstanding the tilting of thefinger beam, and being maintained,of course there will be no disturbancein the register between the knives and the guard-fingers.

In all positions of the finger beam when tilted the register of theknives with the guardfingers will be substantially perfect. This effectis produced because the knuckle is pivoted to the vibratingcoupling-piece at apoint above the pivotal attachment of the latter tothe fixed bracket, so that the outward movement of the coupling-piecewill move the finger-beam outward to a corresponding degree.

The thrust-bar K is connected at its rear end to the mainframepreferably by a ball and socket. At its forward end it is pivoted to theinner shoe by-means of a pin, L, which passes through lugs g on theinner shoe and a hole, is, in the end of the bar, this latter openingbeing oval or elongated, as shown in Fig.

5 of the drawings, for a purpose which will be presently explained. Now,the hinge-connections between the finger-beam or inner shoe and the mainframe being ordinarily loose, there will be some slight movement of theouter end of the finger-beam backward froma direct alignment with thecrank-wheel. The outer end of the finger-beam is so far away from thesehinge-joints that only a very slight movement at the joints will producequite a variation at the outer end of the beam. This backward vibrationwill also produce a disturbance of the register between the knives andguardfingers, and it will constantly increase with the use of themachine, as the wearing of the joints will permit more and more backwardmovement of the finger-beam. To overcome this defect I place a strongbuffer-spring, M, around the thrust-bar right back of the lugs g, whichis held in place by a pin, m, passing through the bar. This spring ismade sufficiently strong to hold the shoe forward firmly, so that thepivot-pin L will be held firmly against the thrust-bar at the forwardend of the elongated opening 70, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, inwhich position the fingerbeam is in proper alignment with the crank.

The spring is strong enough to resist the backward thrust upon thefinger-beam in all ordinary work; but. if the fingerbeam .is

IICl

brought suddenly against some obstacle the spring will yieldsufficiently to permit a vibration backward of the finger-beam, theelongation of the aperture It being provided for this purpose, and sobreakage of the finger-beam or guard-fingers will be prevented. Withthese two devices the register between the knives and the guard-fingerswill practically be maintained when the machine is at work, and thedifficulties which were mentioned at the outset are therefore entirelyovercome. These improvements have been thoroughly tested by considerableactual use, and have been found entirely sufficient and successful insecuring the results herein described.

The improvements have been described as applied to the machine shown inthe former patent to me; but I do not wish to be underthe devices todifferent types of machines. The actual devices employed mayalso bemodified or changed in many instances without departing from thecontrolling features of my invention, and I do not wish to be understoodas limiting this present invention to the actual devices herein shownand described, or their application to the particular machine referredto; but I do wish to be understood as claiming these and all similardevices applied to my patented mowing-machine, or any othermowing-machine, so as to accomplish the operation and result which areherein described and shown. The improvements may also be applied to anyharvesting-machine, if desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a mowing-machine, the main or gearing frame, in combination with arocking or tilting finger-beam and devices whereby the finger-beam ismoved bodily outward and inward lengthwise as the finger-beam is rocked,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In a mowing-machine, the main or gearing frame, in combination with arocking or tilting finger-beam and a vibrating couplingpiece to whichthe finger-beam is connected, and which is arranged to vibrate in a pathinclined to the line of the crank-shaft, whereby the finger-beam ismoved bodily lengthwise when the coupling-piece is vibrated,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The main or gearing frame A, provided with the bracket J, having itsouter face inclined to the line of the crank-shaft, as specified, incombination with the coupling-piece I, pivoted to the bracket, and thefinger'beam F, jointed to the coupling-piece, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

4. The finger-beam, in combination with the thrust-bar jointed to thefinger-beam or shoe, and a spring arranged on the thrust-bar back of thesaid joint, whereby the finger-beam or shoe may yield backward onstriking an obstacle, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The hinged finger-beam F, in combination with the thrust-bar K,pivoted to lugs g on the inner shoe, and the spring M, arranged on thebar and held between the pin m and lugs on the shoe, substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

6. The inner shoe, G, provided with lugs g, in combination with thethrust-bar K, pro vided with an elongated opening, k, pivot-pin L, andbu'lfer-sprin g M, arranged on the thrustbar back of the lugs on theshoe, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

HARVEY L. HOPKINS.

\Vitnesses:

LEONARD WA'rsoN, G. E. FAULKNER.

